Memory Loss
by CaptainPeroxide1317
Summary: Kadaj is suffering from memory loss one night, and Yuffie happens to be staying at the same hotel. Their paths cross, but will he remember anything later? Set before AC, rated for strong language. Originally a one-shot, but chapters may be added later.
1. Not My Day

**A/N: Okay, most chapters have been re-written. This chap is the only one I made major changes to though. Guess what? I re-played FFVII. I haven't actually played it for years, but it was good getting into it again and gave me inspiration. More game-world references now. Hope it's improved. Don't own Final Fantasy VII.  
**

**Chapter One: Not My Day**

_Yuffie_

_This is just _not_ my day._

That was what Yuffie couldn't help but think; trudging across the darkening plains, the sack full of glowing orbs slung over one shoulder. It had been maybe one of the worst days she'd ever had.

The morning hadn't been awful – just a _long_ walk from North Corel, past the Gold Saucer… Unfortunately, it was the little road trips off the main path that had gotten her into trouble this time… as usual.

She had a full _bag_ of Materia – though, admittedly, it wasn't the biggest bag. And the Materia… only a couple of them were mastered and mostly just little things, like Fire and Chocobo Lure. There were a few Summons, and only one Restore that hadn't even worked when she tested it out. Really good Materia had become difficult to find after Meteor.

But still, with a little _usage_, she could make her findings worthwhile, so why look for more? Her trip across the continents had been pretty rewarding; and hopefully Wutai would one day be grateful for all the trouble she went through. Travelling without any useful Restore (and a dwindling supply of Potions) was taking its toll.

Godo would handle what she brought back, she knew – after making sure she kept a few orbs for her own personal use. He'd been totally pissed when she hadn't had the heart to steal the entire party's Materia again after Sephiroth's defeat... besides, Cloud was still hyper-vigilant about the prospect, so it would've been near impossible anyway.

She wondered sometimes if Materia was all it would take to restore Wutai to the grand place it had been – but that was for her father to figure out, after all. _He_ was the official ruler. _She_ was the official Materia hunter. Until Godo kicked the bucket, at least, but hopefully that was a long way in the future.

Like, a hell of a long way. Eighteen was too young to be leader of a whole _country_, she felt.

Yuffie had been preoccupied with her thoughts as she left Gongaga behind. It was sort of quiet and lonely. She had gotten so used to having _someone_ around during the times before Meteor. Skipping around the grassland with a bunch of completely insane fighters who she considered friends.

Even if they weren't really friends – they were someone to talk to, or even just someone to be around so she wasn't technically talking to herself. Vince had been particularly good for that. _Sigh_.

Yuffie looked up, pulled out of her mental image of the good old days.

She was on the side of the river heading to Cosmo Canyon, near the cliffs. She looked ahead at the craggy half-formed tunnels in the ground. She couldn't help noticing that they looked like excellent hiding places for the thieves that had sprung up in recent times – corrupt individuals who decided that mugging bystanders who'd been injured during Meteor was a good way to get by. As if, you know, all the monsters out here weren't enough.

There were a lot of them, living in what were now the ruins of Midgar. About a month ago Yuffie had encountered them while exploring the ruins – they were surprisingly tough fighters. Several of them been deformed, or maybe damaged by Mako, from they way they had looked. Yuffie wondered if a few had possibly been SOLDIERS.

The thing about the thieves – as annoyingly strong as they were – was that any post-Meteor Materia that had been available, _they'd_ have already gotten instead of her. Something about that idea just infuriated Yuffie to no end. Just because she was more refined in her methods of getting Materia, these downright _criminals_ had to get the upper hand?

Bitterly, she paused on the edge of one of the Canyon's many crags. She knew she should really just carry on and head to the nearest inn, but… she was sure there were some thieves around. And if she could one-up them without their expecting it, well… and, maybe get some mastered Materia in the process!

Okay, maybe not _mastered_, but she might be able to find a decent Restore, at least. It was a tempting idea.

So, that was Yuffie's excuse for venturing into the rocky crevices, dropping down into the slanting passages and trying to be quiet, despite carrying the Materia (along with her Conformer). She thought about putting the bag down, but quickly decided it was too risky.

So it wasn't exactly with great stealth that the ninja slid through the walls of earth, trying to catch the scent of smoke or the mumble of voices that indicated a thieves' hideout. By the time she'd reached a dead end and turned back, she knew she was getting somewhat lost in the twisty passages of the Canyon.

Yuffie wasn't really known for her great on-the-spot navigation, even _she_ acknowledged that (not out loud, though. A girl had to have her pride, if nothing else). She could find her way in a place she was familiar with, but it had been a while since she'd seen this part of the Planet.

When she'd asked Barret for directions once, he'd said that it was easy to map out anywhere from the view of the Highwind, and shouldn't she have memorised the entire Planet long ago? A question which prompted her to remark that she'd spent all of her time on that vile ship trying not to pass out from nausea, and didn't he even _remember _that?

But, no. It seemed Cloud was the only one who had ever noticed her presence on the Highwind. And that had only been a couple of times, anyway.

Whatever. Who needed those guys? When they weren't saving the planet, that is. As heroes they were pretty good, but as normal social-type people they kind of sucked.

So she carried on, getting less and less graceful as she slipped and fell into gravelly holes, scratching her arms and knees on protruding rocks, and managing to stab herself in the leg with her own shuriken. The perpetual sunset-darkness of the Canyon wasn't helping either.

She swore under her breath, seeing the small rivulet of blood the blade had caused. She wouldn't have time to get back through all those stony passages – not without actually running into thieves, probably.

And oddly enough, she didn't think she would be stealthy enough to sneak past them with the bag, shuriken, and bleeding leg. Not to mention the aching muscles from the rock-climbing. So with a sigh she turned to face the nearest wall – the burgundy color of the rocks making the light even dimmer.

Sighing, she tentatively tied the Materia bag to her belt – very, very tightly – and using her conformer as a mountaineer's axe – managed to climb up the rough wall, scratching her bare legs and arms over and over, and panting from the weight of the bag.

At last she heaved herself over the edge of the crag to find herself facing the enormous crater that Ultimate WEAPON had made when it fell to the ground. She grinned for a second, remembering how she had been _there_ to see all those bastards fall. It was really awesome sometimes, being a hero.

On the other hand, being a hero had no use at the moment aside from making her feel smug, because after the glow had worn off she was left standing there, trying to see if the crater was still passable in the soft light.

With a fierce determination, she started plodding across the crater, unhooking the bag before it pulled her belt down, and carrying it again, still dead weight. Silently she wondered what she ought to do. _I could try and make it to town… but… that's ages away. And more rock-climbing would have to be done, so… yeah, no._

She looked ahead, pausing in her tracks thoughtfully.

_Hmmm_. The Ancient Forest was very close by…

Yuffie only vaguely remembered the forest itself. It was mossy and dark and very complicated – they'd had to go through these sorts of maze places and do weird lever-pulling and jumping on flowers and things just to get some treasure.

But, technically speaking, she wouldn't need to go through the entire forest right now. It would be nicer to sleep in there instead of out in a crater, too. And she was getting seriously exhausted here, ninja skills or not.

So, with this new plan formed, she turned and headed directly for the Ancient Forest.

It was a little bit further along the crater (and sort of up the side of the mountains) than she'd anticipated, so she was even more tired by the time she reached the entrance.

Sighing and limping and pulling the bag along behind her now, she entered the forest. The sun had set officially now (since she was no longer in the Canyon of perpetual sunset) and she was definitely starting to feel creeped out. There weren't as many monsters here as she remembered, either. _Oh, Leviathan, tell me there aren't thieves in here instead?! _

_Would thieves even know about this place?_

She shivered and walked on, looking for a soft mossy spot to lie down. The flies and frogs around the entrance were _not_ her idea of bed mates. Eugh.

_Wait, since when do I have an _idea_ of bed mates? _Yuffie frowned._ Guess it was just an expression… hmm. If I had to choose a bed mate – for sleeping on a forest floor with, anyway – who'd it be? _

_Well. Not many people who would be willing to sleep near _me_… even Teef. She always bunked up with Chocobo-head Strife when we had to use tents. _

She walked further on, getting lost in her thoughts once more.

Yeah, so Teef and her emo boyfriend had a tent… Red went with Cait Sith, Cid and Barrett had their tent where they could swear and be all masculine together, and Aerith usually had her own tent because…well, probably 'cause she didn't want to intrude on Tifa's inevitable attempted seductions or something. Yuffie giggled to herself.

_That's right; I always got stuck with Vinnie. Mwah. I'd forgotten that. More like he got stuck with me. And a good thing for him, too. He's always needed to chill out more. Maybe after I get outta here tomorrow, I can call him. Haven't done that in ages. I wonder how he is. I swear, if he's still hanging out around Nibelhiem being all depressed and flogging himself… ugh._

Yuffie paused in her train of thought. She'd never actually seen or heard of Vincent flogging himself, but she wasn't ruling it out. It sounded so very typical of him.

_Maybe I can convince him to come Materia-hunting with me so he can take out the thieves? Yeah, he can do that easy, and I can just casually grab all their stuff, and he never needs to know how much of a percentage he's getting. Heh. Yeah, that'll be awesome._

She had been walking past all the traps and flower-trampolines when she saw a small light ahead, pulling her back to reality again. She instantly woke up to the fact that she was deep in the Ancient Forest - deeper than she'd meant to go - and alone.

Tentatively, she set the bag down against a nearby tree, and gripped Conformer tightly as she approached the light. Avoiding more frogs on the ground.

It was more of a glow, really… sort of blue-green… she strained her eyes to see what it was coming from. A few yards away, she could tell exactly… and was overjoyed.

Materia!

A BOX of Materia, specifically. Just sitting there, next to a tree.

Yuffie skipped towards it gleefully. _What kind of idiot just leaves a bunch of Materia sitting around in a forest? _(Completely forgetting that that was what she herself was doing, having left the bag behind.)

She saw the colors clearly as she approached and became even smugger. There was only a thin lid to the box, and it was easy to see the Materia through the top. She knelt down to glance through the orbs. _Hahaha_! Restore. _Three_, in fact. Jackpot.

There was also a handful of Summons, but none of them were pretty special. There were some Command, and a few Ice and Lightning. Well. _All_ of it was for the taking, so who cared if there was nothing major in here?

She picked up a Restore, rolling it in the palm of her hand with a feeling of satisfaction. Still holding the orb, as she leaned back down to lift the entire box up, she heard something shift behind the tree. Yuffie suddenly felt her heart rise into her throat. There just _had_ to be a catch.

The rustling noise came again from behind the tree, and she straightened up, trying to back away quietly, gripping Conformer more tightly. She'd dropped the Restore in surprise, but didn't have time to reach back for it as she heard the thing approaching.

_Great, I didn't even think about instantly slotting it. I just had to savour the freaking moment._

Before she could even raise her shuriken, a black dog-like shadow leapt out from its hiding place and pounced on her, claws ripping at her skin and snarling in an unearthly way. It had the strange glow of… magic about it.

Yuffie kicked out violently, trying to buck the creature off, without success. She managed to roll over, keeping her head down and away from the massive claws, and with a burst of courage she stabbed Conformer into the creature's belly.

It let out a brief ghostly howl, and Yuffie took the opportunity to throw off its weight, kicking it into the air and hearing it land somewhere further away (probably crushing one of those gross frogs).

Gasping, she lunged for the Restore, quickly slipping it onto her arm bangle, and she turned and ran the way she had come (remembering to grab the Materia bag by her tree only at the last minute), flat-out sprinting until she was in an even deeper part of the forest, which she didn't recognise at all. It didn't even look like the Ancient Forest anymore…

_What the hell _was_ that thing?_

She wheezed, leaning against a tree for support. _I've never seen any monster like that before… it was like, a black dog or something. But made of smoke? It was also kind of… it looked like a magical thing. I dunno how. Like... maybe it was a Summon?_

She'd never heard of a Summon made of _smoke_. No, it had been solid. But just… Shadowy. Ghostly, that was the word. Whatever it was, it had been vicious.

_If only its claws had been made of smoke_, Yuffie thought angrily, nursing the large gash on her upper arm, which was now bleeding quite a bit. But that was okay, because she'd found what she needed.

With a smirk, she glanced down at her arm bangle, her essence sending out the instruction to use the Restore slotted in there.

She waited for a second, expecting the warm tingly glow to cover her arm and heal it. But nothing happened.

Frowning, Yuffie tried the spell again.

Nothing.

Again...

Yeah, nothing.

"Son of a _bitch_!"

It was damaged, like the others. Had to be. She ripped the orb out of its slot, angrily inspecting the surface for any incriminating marks. There were none. It was simply… useless. Like the other Restores she'd found across the continent. It was very rare to find a working Restore these days.

She hadn't thought to ask Cloud lately if all that Materia that he had (unfairly) gotten to keep for himself was maybe not working as well as usual. The Lifestream had to be interfering somehow with the healing, or something, 'cause Restore was being the most affected.

Realising she was still in pain, Yuffie rummaged in her pockets for a small corked bottle. Her last Potion. She swallowed it whole, once again waiting for the magical effects to heal her arm. There was a vague warm glow, but it was very brief and her arm only barely stopped bleeding.

Frustrated, she ripped off her headband and tied it several times over her arm, until the wound was mostly covered and bound. That would have to do for now.

Freaking ghost-dog Summon thing. Freaking broken Materia. Freaking low-strength potion. This whole thing completely sucked.

Stumbling and panting, she walked on through the dense part of the forest, pretty sure she would never see the outside world for the rest of her days. She'd have to call for help if she didn't want to die… that dog might find her again. But she didn't _want _to do that. Whenever she got stuck or lost, and had to ask for help… it just seemed stupid. She was okay on her own, damnit! Lost or not, she could find her way out of a _forest_, at least.

Even if it was the never-fully-explored Ancient Forest, which she hadn't been in for over a year.

So with a determined effort, she managed to find her way to the less-tree-populated area, and from there she finally limped her way onto a dirt path, breathless and thankful and very proud of herself. _See? That was no big deal. I can take care of myself fine. Now there's no reason to bother anyone else… and have them treat me like a kid._

Not that Tifa treated her like a kid… but if Tifa had to give her directions, or come find her, then everyone else would find out. And it was bad enough that Cid and Barrett already teased the hell out of her about those couple of times.

It had been when she'd first started her world expedition to find more Materia after helping up as best she could with Meteor. She'd gotten lost off near the Chocobo Ranch and had to call someone for directions after ages of wandering. To be fair, she had been under _Confused _at the time, but did that ever make it into the story later? Of course not.

And a few months later, she'd gotten lost on Mt. Nibel, trying to find that old Materia cave she'd always hoped to return to. Tifa hadn't minded helping her, and had believed her logical explanations for getting lost, although she had suggested buying a detailed map of some kind.

Which Yuffie had done, because it was a smart idea. But then it had gotten destroyed in a rainstorm, and she wasn't about to admit that because of course that would just make her look even more incompetent.

_I don't need their help. I'm fine. I'm great._

She was finally free of the Ancient Forest – and had apparently come out the other side, still in a green forest area, on top of the cliffs of Cosmo Canyon, it seemed.

She hobbled slowly towards a series of small scattered buildings in the distance, where the trees thinned. It looked too small to be a town, just a couple of buildings. She would have thought they were abandoned if it wasn't for the soft orange lights hung around the outside.

As Yuffie approached, she could read the sign sitting next to the tallest building, some four or more stories. It was a hotel. Not even an _inn_ - a hotel. Weird much?

_Creepiest place to put a hotel ever. Don't they know what's in these woods out here?_

Well, now was not the time to question, she figured. Be thankful for small mercies and carry on. At least she wouldn't have to sleep on the ground tonight.


	2. Another of His Episodes

**Chapter Two: Another of His Episodes**

_Kadaj & Yazoo_

It was probably a good idea for him to sleep, but he just couldn't.

There was a lot of noise going on in this damned hotel. People talking, stomping up and down stairs, the banging of doors, a regular cacophony even for normal ears. Kadaj could hear it all much better, and it was driving him crazy.

Thankfully they would only be staying here for tonight, then they were heading to a new base, up on the North Continent, a place called the Forgotten City. It was supposed to be deserted. Ideal, really. They could also keep their Materia there. He wouldn't have to resort to hiding it in random forests with a Shadow Creeper as guard anymore. It always took a lot of his energy up, prolonging a Summon like that.

The Forgotten City was next, absolutely. And from there, they would continue the missions. Start rounding up the sufferers of Geostigma… get information on their traitorous brother, Cloud Strife, and ultimately… to find Mother for the reunion, of course.

_Mother…?_

All of the thoughts and reasoning that had kept him going for so long were slowly melting away tonight. Along with the sleep deprivation, he kept trying to remember who his Mother even was, or why they need to reunite with her… he didn't remember how he had gotten to this hotel, or why he was lying in an unnaturally soft bed trying to sleep.

Sometimes he felt like this. Only sometimes. The rest of the time, any feelings like this would be considered betrayal in his own mind. But at these times, his mind felt calm and blank, and perfectly free of whatever it was that he usually thought about so much... Whatever that _was_…

Sighing heavily, he sat up in the bed, throwing off the covers and sliding into his boots. He stood up and silently walked to the door, passing a mirror on the way. As always when he was in this mood, Kadaj marvelled at his own appearance. A strange sort of outfit, all black leather and zippers and straps. Not like normal clothes at all. And his hair was strange, too. Silver and very fine.

He shook his head in amazement, before quietly exiting the room.

Yazoo sat up in his own bed and stared at the door with a grim look on his face. So Kadaj was having another of his … episodes.

Just occasionally he would get like this… he would forget who he _really_ was, and what they were all working so hard for. He didn't know who Mother was. He barely even knew his own brothers…

When he was like this, he wasn't angry or agitated at all, which were his most dominant moods when he was normal. But the sad thing was that, when he _was_ like this… without the influence of Mother… he seemed to be a calmer person. More relaxed, and just kind of curious. Though still very ill-tempered at times, just… less so than usual.

Over time, his episodes had gotten less and less frequent, and less dramatic when they did happen. Yazoo had always had a hard job keeping it a secret from Loz. Yazoo was the only one of the three who really understood the youngest brother's mood swings… if that was what they _were_. Whenever he was back to normal, Yazoo always felt too hesitant to mention it to Kadaj.

Only once or twice had Kadaj himself acknowledged it. He said the phases were 'unpleasant', but 'tolerable', and that he never did anything _too_ dangerous. He just went out, and looked at objects or people or buildings. Just curious. And it was over soon. He talked about it like it was just a random kind of wanderlust.

Yazoo wondered if he was lying on purpose, or if he really didn't remember at all. Because he knew very well what his brother did during his episodes. He went out, yes, and looked at things with his strange curiosity, yes. But he also _talked_ to people. He followed them. He spoke to them like old friends.

And then he came back… and never said a word about it.

Well, this was probably his first episode for about six months now… and the last one had lasted only a few hours, right? So there was no need to follow Kadaj now. He wouldn't do anything stupid. He never did.

Trying to reassure himself of these things, Yazoo rolled over and fell back asleep.


	3. Drinking Games

**Chapter Three: Drinking Games**

_Yuffie & Kadaj_

This wasn't such a bad place to spend the night, Yuffie figured. Better than the haunted Ancient Forest, anyway.

The room was nice and cosy, and there was an en-suite bathroom. The first thing she did after obtaining the room key was to take a quick shower, and rinse off all the blood. The cut on her leg wasn't still bleeding, thankfully, but the one on her arm was a lot larger and still very raw.

With only a small twinge of guilt, she hastily ripped a towel into strips and wrapped them around her arm, and then pulled on the dark hooded jacket that she had snagged from a guy outside before coming into the hotel, in order to hide her injured arm.

She dropped her headband onto the bag of Materia piled in the corner, with a sigh. It would probably take forever to get the bloodstains out. And that was her favorite headband… hell, it was her _only_ headband.

Well, that was that, and nothing much more to take care of. She felt exhausted from the day's events, but also kind of hyper and bored. Her mind was racing, still trying to figure out what it was that had attacked her.

She checked her pockets – she had a little bit of gil left... and she had seen that downstairs they had a bar.

_After everything that happened today… why not?_

***

Kadaj looked around.

The lounge downstairs was lavishly decorated. He was sure he hadn't remembered the hotel being _this_ nice when he'd booked the rooms this morning. But then, he'd been half-asleep at the time.

Why were they even _at_ this place again?

He tried so hard to remember. But he knew he wouldn't, no matter how much he might want to.

But while the memory loss was kind of disturbing, he knew he _would_ remember later on. He always did. So he tried not to let it bother him.

He took a seat in the furthest corner of the room, watching the scattered people sitting at tables. Shadowy corners were always best for this - they couldn't see him, but he could look at them all he wanted.

And anyway, if he ever showed himself in decent lighting, people always noticed his silver hair. And instantly became either nervous or shocked. So hiding was preferable, really, to being asked inane questions about who he was. He didn't know, so why were they asking _him_?

A voice floated through his mind suddenly, just outside the reaches of his memory. A terrified male voice, crying out a single word, almost accusingly…_Sephiroth_.

What was _Sephiroth_? It sounded like a name, but… the details slipped away as he grasped for them. It _definitely_ sounded familiar. Kadaj sighed. It was just no use. He'd heard the word before, when he'd allowed himself to be seen. People sometimes uttered it with fear, or accusation. Usually they just backed away from him. It was infuriating, because he didn't know what the word even meant.

So, yes, hiding in the shadows was the smarter option.

But this luxuriant hotel seemed to exist as a refuge with little purpose; it was in the middle of nowhere and strangely half-empty.

All he'd cared about was a place to sleep. That was all that mattered. They had been travelling for days, across the continents, and sleeping in caves and forests. Now that they were so close to the Forgotten City, he'd relaxed his stringent rules and allowed them to have proper beds for once. It was an uncommon luxury.

At this moment, of course, he had no idea why. Why _any_ of this was the way it was… why they _had_ to travel, why they were going to the Forgotten City at all.

"You sure you want another one, kid?"

Kadaj was interrupted in his thoughts by a voice emanating from across the bar, opposite his hiding place. The bartender was watching apprehensively as the girl in front of him threw back more and more alcohol.

"Hell yeah, I'm sure," the girl hiccupped and slid a few gil across the table. "What, you think I'm drunk or somethin'?"

The bartender gave her a disparaging look before obeying her order. In the shadows, Kadaj smirked. It was entertaining to watch people. They were so stupid… but at the same time, it seemed like they _knew_ they were being stupid, but didn't do anything to stop it.

It made absolutely no sense to him. But he couldn't help being a little fascinated.

The girl at the bar was probably the most interesting out of the minuscule crowd here. She was small and had a stick-like frame, with close-cropped black hair which she kept tucking behind her ears in annoyance whenever a strand flitted into her eyes.

As she tossed down another shot, his attention was suddenly drawn to her movements. She was deliberately keeping her left arm very still, and whenever she accidentally bumped it, she would grimace.

He wondered vaguely what was wrong with her. Maybe she had Geostigma on her arm.

Wait. What was Geostigma again?

***

Yuffie sighed, setting down the shot glass for the fourth time, feeling sort of sick and lonely. She wasn't feeling nearly as happy as she _usually_ felt when she was drunk – so maybe she wasn't drunk yet. Best to keep on drinking, see if she got any happier.

She giggled suddenly, remembering the time a few months ago when Tifa had caught her up around two AM, sipping vodka at Seventh Heaven. Well, it wasn't her fault if she had to drink secretly in the middle of the night. Tifa was too damned saintly to let her have a drink, stating that she never served to the under aged.

_It's a good thing this bartender isn't that uptight_, Yuffie thought, absently messing around with one of those little paper umbrellas, a bowl of which was sitting behind the counter.

Actually, this was the first time she had been served without having to provide a fake ID. Otherwise she would have been kicked out, an event which usually humiliated her in front of everyone else in the bar.

There was hardly anyone down here this late, anyway. It was after nine PM, and this hotel couldn't have many guests. There was a woman in her thirties sitting at a table, flipping the pages of a fashion magazine and looking preoccupied. The only other people here were the disgruntled-looking bartender, and some guy sitting in the dark corner furthest from the bar.

Setting down the paper umbrella, Yuffie glanced up, towards the guy in the corner. Why the hell was he sitting there all alone like that? Like some kind of weird stalker? She could hardly even tell he was there. All she could see was the dim foggy outline of someone sitting in a chair.

She looked back at the glass in front of her, and then did a double-take. In the moment that she'd looked at that dark corner, it hadn't been _totally_ dark – she could've sworn she had seen a pair of cat-like green eyes staring at her.

But when she looked back, there was nothing but the vague frame again. _Must be the alcohol_, she thought, ordering another shot automatically. She would stop in a while, when she wanted to. The hotel was safe, if she passed out or anything the clerk would probably carry her upstairs to her room, so, it's not like she was in danger.

She was a _ninja_, after all.

_Hiccup._

***

After her sixth shot, the girl seemed to get frustrated about something. With a heavy sigh, she finished the drink and slid off of her barstool, wobbling and wincing as she accidentally put pressure on her injured arm. She was limping – actually _limping_ – away from the bar now, going right by his alcove.

He raised an eyebrow. It seemed she was injured in more than one place. He looked away after a moment, trying to ignore his curiosity. No one else was here now. Even the bartender was yawning and closing up, relieved that the girl had finally left.

Kadaj thought maybe he would go back to his room later. He just didn't feel like sleeping right now. He could never sleep when he was like this, anyway.

He was musing internally how long _this_ particular bout of amnesia would last when the girl that was passing him suddenly stopped, turning to look directly at him. He stiffened, wondering whether or not she could see him.

She paused uncertainly, before limping over to the seat opposite him and collapsing in it. He was surprised by this, and a little unnerved.

She abruptly spoke, startling him.

"What the hell are you sitting here in the dark for?" her voice was slurred, but resolute. Kadaj smiled. She was so drunk. This might actually be interesting.

"I can't sit here?" he answered her question sarcastically. She blinked.

"No, it's just creepy, is all," she replied unevenly. "What are you doing?"

He decided to opt for honesty. "Watching people."

"_Watching_ people? There's no one here besides me!"

He shrugged. "I was watching you, too."

She frowned at him. "So you _are_ a stalker."

Kadaj shook his head, amused. "Why were you drinking so much?"

"'Cause I've had a really crappy day," she said. "And I was bored."

He smirked again, but then decided to voice something that had been intriguing him. "What's wrong with your arm?"

She stared at him, taken aback.

"How'd you know there's anything wrong with it?" her words were becoming clearer.

"It's obvious," he pointed out.

There was a pause.

"You're not graceful enough to hide it." he added slyly.

She glared at him. "It's none of your business."

"And why I choose to sit here is none of _your_ business."

She sighed suddenly, and tentatively prodded her left arm, wincing. They were both silent for a moment.

"You wouldn't happen to have any Restore on you, would you?" the girl asked unexpectedly.

"What?"

"Restore. Cure. You know, Materia? I could use some." She sounded sad, and kind of defeated. "None of mine works anymore."

He was too surprised to answer, and she stood up after a minute.

"Well, good night."

***

Yuffie trudged up the stairs, dejected. Drinking had _not_ been a good idea. The buzz had worn off pretty quickly, and now she felt tired and sore and sad… and the nerve of that jerk, saying she wasn't graceful! She was a freaking ninja, for God's sake.

What did he know about it, anyway? He was… just a stranger.

And anyway, what was all that about? Just going and talking to random guys in bars in the middle of the night? _That wasn't a good idea either_, she reminded herself. _Drinking on your own after a bad day is one thing. Chatting up creepy stalkers while you're smashed is something else entirely._

She could practically hear Tifa or one of the others chastising her. But that would not happen, because they didn't need to know about this. She was a teenager, after all. Making mistakes was okay, right? Besides, the way she currently felt, Yuffie was sure she wouldn't be drinking again any time soon.

She walked back up to her room and closed the door, taking off the stupid jacket and stretching back on her bed, wincing at her sore muscles and arm, trying to think clearly. She really needed something for that arm... she probably should have asked the bartender for a first aid kit instead of a drink. She was too tired to go do that now.

Whatever. Maybe if she could sleep for a while, everything would be easier. She closed her eyes, forgetting that she had not locked the door to her room, and eventually, thanks to the alcohol, drifted off to sleep.


	4. A Visitor

**Chapter Four : A Visitor**

_Yazoo & Yuffie_

There was a shuffling sound in the corner.

Yazoo sat up slowly, eyes adjusting easily to the darkness. The shuffling sound came again, followed by a musical jingling. There was a loud clink, obviously something falling on the floor, and he heard a low, familiar voice uttering a few curses before the jingling sound resumed.

He glanced over at the corner, and was surprised to see his youngest brother was standing over the chrome-tipped box of Materia they'd brought with them to the hotel, identical to the one left in the woods earlier. The jingling was coming from the small collection of glass balls, as they were sifted and sorted through. Soft glowing lights reflected on the wall, casting eerie shadows over the room.

Yazoo looked at the bed opposite his. Loz was still asleep, thankfully.

He just sat there for a while, listening to the clicking sound of the Materia, and the occasional mutter from Kadaj.

"Come on," the youngest remnant whispered, apparently frustrated. "There were a few of them in here…"

Yazoo sighed quietly. He was still going through his episode, obviously. But what did he need Materia for?

Eventually, the clinking stopped, and there was a dull thud as the box lid was closed. Yazoo watched silently as his brother left the room, clutching a couple of green orbs in his hand, a triumphant look on his face.

With another deep sigh, Yazoo laid back down and pulled the covers over his head.

Why Restore? Although at least one couldn't do any _damage_ with that.

So hopefully, whatever Kadaj was doing, it wouldn't cause too much difficulty later. Although he wondered, as he drifted back to sleep, what he would say if tomorrow he was asked why they were missing some Materia.

_He'd_ been the one to take them. But he wouldn't remember that tomorrow.

***

Yuffie groaned into her pillow. This was turning into the worst night ever. _Ever_.

She had woken up after about ten minutes of blissful sleep, and now she couldn't return to it. That usually only happened when she'd had a nightmare, generally about Godo dying or Sephiroth coming back or something. But she hadn't even slept long enough for that.

Her arm was throbbing, and had started bleeding again. She was still sore from climbing through crevices all day, and she couldn't sleep on her left side like she normally did. Add the headache from drinking so much, and sleep was becoming an elusive dream.

She huffed angrily and rolled over onto her back, staring up at the black ceiling, wondering what time of the morning it was. Had to be at least three. It felt like she'd been trying to sleep for years.

Suddenly, out of the total stillness of the room, there was a noise. A shuffling, thudding kind of noise. Sounded like a door being opened. But when she tore her gaze from the ceiling, she couldn't make out a single shape in front of her face. It was just too dark.

Instinctively, she reached over to turn on the lamp next to the bed, wishing she had Conformer nearby. But her shuriken had been placed against the wall furthest from the bed, stupidly, and away from easy access.

Yuffie tugged the chord of the lamp down. Nothing happened. She tugged it again, starting to panic. The lamp was dead.

Before she could wonder why that was, she heard distinct footsteps approaching the foot of the bed. She quickly scrunched her legs up to her chest, hands searching the bedside cabinet for possible weapons; there were none. She had emptied the pockets of her shorts earlier, so she wouldn't have to sleep on a lump of keys.

She really wished there was just some decent lighting in here. It was practically pitch black, save for a small shaft of purple-blue moonlight that the curtains were blocking half of, casting only one square of carpet into view.

Suddenly, there was weight on the foot of her bed. Yuffie whimpered, she couldn't help it, drawing her legs up even further, preparing to kick whoever it was in the head for coming into her room in the night.

Putting on a confident voice, she called out into the gloom.

"Who's there?"

To her surprise, she got a reply.

"It's me," said a distinctly familiar male voice.

"Who are _you_?" she asked, deeply bewildered.

The voice sighed impatiently. "From downstairs. In the corner."

She conjured up the mental image of the man in the chair from earlier, the vague silhouette smirking at her.

"Right, I remember you. One question?" her voice was steadier. Her fear was ebbing into anger now. Unfortunately, he didn't really know her, and didn't know what he was asking for when he replied.

"Yes?"

Yuffie leaned forwards on her knees, unable to precisely see _where_ he was, but knowing that she was right in his face.

"What the _fuck_ are you doing in here_!?_" she hissed.

She felt him lean back, shifting his weight in order to move away from her. Since she was kneeling right in front of him, she nearly fell off the bed as he moved, but managed to edge back in time.

"Calm down," the guy responded in a low voice, sounding irritated.

Before he could provide an explanation– and she sincerely doubted that he had a good one – she was off, firing questions at him in the same venomous whisper.

"How'd you get in here? How'd you find out where my room is? Who _are_ you? Why the _hell_ are you here?"

Eventually she had to stop, in order to breathe. He took the opportunity to answer.

"One: I opened the door," he murmured, sounding as sarcastic as he had downstairs. "Two: I saw you stagger in here, so I figured this was your room."

She glared at him silently, noticing that he hadn't answered all of her questions.

"Who are you?" she repeated.

She heard him give a disgruntled sigh. "Is that really important?"

Yuffie sucked her breath in, indignant. "Since you're a stranger who's slinking into my room at night, I'd say yeah, it is!"

He didn't say anything.

"What's your name, at least?" she asked, exasperated.

"My name?" there was a pause. "Mm… Kadaj ."

"Weird name."

"What's yours?"

"Yuffie. Yuffie Kisaragi," she added, hoping he would have heard of her, and therefore realise what a big mistake he'd made, trying to sneak up on her like this. Sadly, he didn't suddenly gasp in recognition, or stumble towards the door, uttering apologies, the way she hoped he would.

When he was silent again, she repeated her remaining question, feeling very tired and frustrated by now.

"Kadaj, what are you _doing_ here?"

"I'm here to give you what you asked for."

Yuffie swallowed audibly. "What?"

"I'm here to give you what you asked for," he repeated slowly, as if she were dense.

She cringed. That sentence just sounded so _wrong_, coming from a guy who'd burst into her room in the middle of the night. She hoped he wasn't a pervert or something.

"What exactly did I ask for?" she demanded in a whisper.

"These," Kadaj muttered, and she was startled when he held up a hand, two bright green Restore orbs in his palm.

"You… brought me Materia?"

"You said you needed some."

"Well, yeah, actually, I do."

"So. Where are you hurt?"

Yuffie slowly relaxed her position, stretching her legs out slightly, but making sure not to accidentally touch him. He was still sitting calmly on the edge of the bed. The Materia he was holding out to her cast light on his face for the first time.

She was surprised to see that he was actually kind of attractive, despite the creepy glowing eyes. His face was a pleasing oval, and his hair was oddly long, ending just above his shoulders. The Materia's light made his hair look almost silver.

In response to his question, she – reluctantly - held out her injured arm with a small whimper of pain. He took her arm in his free hand, and she shivered, realising that he was wearing the cold leather gloves which fighters often wore.

Kadaj noticed her shuddering. "Something wrong?"

"Your gloves are really cold," she muttered, embarrassed at how weird she felt, having a good-looking stranger holding onto her arm. His grip wasn't exactly slack, but it wasn't unpleasant.

He shrugged, apparently unfazed by her behaviour, and calmly healed her bleeding arm with one of the orbs. They not only worked, but they were high-level, so the healing was fast and effective. When she felt the throbbing melting away, and saw the gash disappearing, Yuffie let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank God," she breathed. "That was _really_ annoying me."

He nodded absently, gaze falling onto her thighs. "What about your leg?"

She glanced down and remembered the cut there. Since he'd only been focusing on healing her arm, nothing else had been affected. Only briefly did she realise what good eyesight he seemed to have. "Oh, right. That too."

He used the second orb to heal her leg, and she felt the soreness in her muscles fading. Exhaling blissfully, she stretched both legs out and tested the strength. Back to normal, no aching.

"Awesome!"

She barely made out his small smile. "How did you get hurt, anyway?"

"I was lost in a forest," she admitted. "And this thing sort of… attacked me."

He frowned suddenly. "What was it?"

She answered with a shrug. "Didn't recognise it. Just, like a big dog-shaped shadow monster or something. I think it might have been a Summon."

"Hmm."

Kadaj seemed to be pondering what she had said. He stood up abruptly, and the shaft of moonlight fell onto his face.

Yuffie stifled a gasp. His hair actually _was_ silver… at least, it looked that way.

She hoped it was just the lighting. Silver hair had to mean…

"Well, um," she began awkwardly. "Thanks for the Materia."

He shrugged, face impassive.

Before she could think of anything to say, he had turned around and made for the door. His good eyesight seemed to mean he could see _in_ the dark, too.

"Good night," he muttered, closing the door behind him.

After he left, Yuffie collapsed onto the bed again, breathing deeply.

This Kadaj guy could not have anything to with Sephiroth, right?

Well, there was the hair, for one thing. And his weird cat-eyes. And the clothes. When he'd stepped into the light, she had seen that he was wearing some odd kind of leather outfit, reminiscent of the General's.

Maybe he was Sephiroth's kid or something. Although it seemed unlikely, since the guy had looked like he was at least her age… So he couldn't be Sephiroth's _son_.

But the resemblance was more than disturbing, so what was the deal here?

If he _was_ related to Sephiroth, that meant he was evil…didn't it? But he hadn't _acted_ particularly evil, she had to admit. He'd actually been kind of courteous, sarcasm and the whole sneaking-into-her-room-thing aside…

And he had helped her. So maybe he wasn't evil.

Because, as she thought bluntly, SEPHIROTH wouldn't have given her Materia if she'd met him randomly one night while she was injured. He would probably have finished the job and sliced her in half, the way she saw it.

_I could think about all of this tomorrow, though,_ she decided. She would rather get some sleep first, now that she could. Besides, she'd probably see him tomorrow in the hotel or something anyway.

Stretching out and burying her face in the pillow, she made a mental note to wake up early, find him, and interrogate him.


	5. Flashes

**Chapter Five: Flashes**

_Kadaj_

When Kadaj opened his eyes in the morning, he felt strange.

Looking downwards, he realised he was fully dressed, stretched out on his bed. He didn't remember getting up at all the previous night…

He groaned inwardly. Another of those stupid amnesia attacks. What had he done _this_ time?

Hopefully nothing. At least he had woken up in their room, unlike a few others occasions when he'd woken up outside, or in a garage, or a random alleyway. Kadaj grimaced at the thought of all those times… and he had never, ever been able to remember what had happened.

But there was no time to dwell on this now, he decided. It was daylight already, and he'd meant for them to leave by sunrise. They were off schedule.

Angrily, he stood up and shoved each of his brothers in turn, his voice coming out in a hiss.

"Wake up!"

Yazoo woke quickly, sitting up straight and staring at Kadaj like he was suspicious of something. When he saw his youngest brother standing there, with a look of dignified anger, he seemed to lose his suspicions slightly, as if seeing something confirmed.

Vaguely Kadaj wondered if they had known about last night. Somehow he was annoyed at the idea that they might know what had happened while he didn't. He was used to being the leader, used to knowing everything firsthand.

Loz was slower to wake, mumbling into his pillow like a child. Kadaj shoved him in the ribs, hard, causing him to jerk awake instantly.

"_What_?" he demanded, wincing at his bruised ribs.

"We're leaving. Now. It's already past sunrise."

As both of his brothers woke up and prepared to go, Kadaj walked over to the corner to get the box of Materia. Looking at it gave him a sense of déjà vu, and he opened it curiously. He frowned, looking through the small glass orbs for a minute before turning around. There was some Restore missing.

"Where's the…" he began, and Yazoo looked up at him, wary.

Before he could finish his sentence, he got a sudden flash in his head, of a girl's face illuminated in the glow of what was definitely Materia. Her expression was distrustful, and before he could even ponder the meaning of the image, it was gone.

"Yes, brother?" Yazoo asked him, wearing that apprehensive look again.

He slowly turned back to the box, shutting it quietly. "It's nothing," he said. "I'll go get the bikes ready. I'll see you outside."

His voice held the usual terse authority now, and Yazoo knew for certain he was back to normal.

Kadaj grabbed the box, preparing to leave. But he paused in the doorway, throwing a last perplexed glance at the room, trying desperately to recall anything from last night. His attempts were in vain, as usual, and when his brothers noticed him still standing there, he shook himself out of it.

"Five minutes or less," he muttered, slamming the door behind him.

It was evidently too early for any of the hotel staff to be awake, because no one was at the reception desk to notice him marching past with a large metal box in his arms. He was crossing to the exit when he looked to the left and noticed the bar and lounge area, which, without warning, caused another small flashback in his head.

This time, he saw the same girl sitting in the lounge across from him, staring at him inquisitively. Her face was pretty, obviously young. A sentence suddenly formed in his mind, out of nowhere, a sentence that sounded familiar somehow.

"_You wouldn't happen to have any Restore on you, would you?"_

The scene vanished from his mind's eye. Abruptly, he was standing in front of the doors of the hotel again, bewildered. He cast an eye over the box he was carrying. The missing Restore…

Sighing angrily, hating these images, he continued outside, piling the box onto the back of his motorcycle and turning to wait for his brothers. He didn't normally get flashes of memory like this.

Silently he wondered what made this time any different. He hoped that it wasn't because of anything he'd _done_. The images of the young girl were suggestive enough. But what was the significance of the Materia?

A girl …asking for Materia?

Kadaj looked up at the bright sky, as if it could give him some answers. He half-wished to hear his Mother's voice in his head right now, despite the fact that the rare moments she chose to speak directly to him were always accompanied by painful headaches and dizziness. She had never mentioned his memory issues, and he had never dared to ask if she knew what caused them.

He reflected quietly on another after-affect of his amnesia spells, which was that for a few days, he always felt very detached from his Mother. He felt detached from his brothers, and in some way they looked strange and inhuman to him. He felt inhuman himself.

Of course, they were superior to humans, because of their relation to Sephiroth, he reminded himself. He wasn't supposed to feel human at all. But after a night of amnesia, he felt more …_aware_ of the differences between himself and the human race… and he didn't like it.

He didn't feel comfortable in his own skin.

Another sentence came back to him suddenly, startling him as he realised how clearly he could remember the voice now.

"_Your gloves are really cold."_

What did _that_ mean? Gaia, he didn't want to even _think_ about what it meant. The only way anyone would know if his gloves were cold would be if he was actually touching them, obviously. He had the horrible feeling that he'd done something tremendously stupid last night. Something to do with a dark-haired girl, who wanted Restore.

What if he had given her the Materia, and she had -

He was jolted out of his increasingly disturbing ideas when Loz and Yazoo came out to join him. In a heartbeat, Kadaj turned back into his usual commanding persona.

"The Forgotten City," he said, simply.

As they mounted their bikes, he resolved not to let the previous night bother him any more. The mission was all that mattered now. The sooner the Reunion occurred, the sooner he would be with his Mother, and maybe then she could explain what all of these thoughts and feelings meant, since he had no idea himself.

And they all sped off, heading for that lost city, and behind them, in the hotel, a sleeping Yuffie was blissfully unaware of their departure.


	6. Author's Note

Author's Note

Okay, so Memory Loss is revised and 'Complete'. Pretty much nothing changed except some details of the first chapter. Now, I was originally going to make this story a one-shot, but I've written quite a few following chapters already. For like a full-length story. I'd like your opinions, because you're the ones who are going to be reading it, right?

I could either add more chapters to this story, or make a separate sequel – which would be better? I'm okay with both. Either way it'll be a while before I update again, as I'm working on two original stories at the moment anyway. But I'd like to make notes for future stories/updates.

Also, I've got an idea for a Yuffentine one-shot in the works. It's just an idea at present, but yeah. I might finish it one day.

Thank you for reading and reviewing.

xxx


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